Alliance
by Burdened-With-Glorious-Love
Summary: Tony Stark finds himself in the hands of the desperate demigod Loki, who's strange and shocking requests lead them to an alliance to defend Asgard. Finding trust between the most unlikely people, and finding sentiment in the hollowest of souls.
1. Kidnapping

**Chapter****1:**

**Kidnapping**

Normally Tony wouldn't give a damn about a big flailing crowed standing in front of Stark Towers. Usually Pepper planed something that he was blissfully unaware of, due to the fact that she shoved documents in his face every time they met up, a date was never just a date with her. The Battle of New York lead to more controversy over the ironman technology being made public than ever before. He was declining offers and making security improvements left and right. Pepper kept him on top of things, telling him what to sign and having him reading him every last word in the fine print prove why he should sign the agreements, or in some cases, restraining orders. After a while, he stopped listening and just signed the damned papers. He could have just sold her his soul for all he knew. He missed the life before the avengers, he might not be the only hero around anymore, but he was the only one who couldn't really disappear from the public eye.

The escorts took him slowly through the swarm of reporters, shouts of discontent and unanswerable questions fogging his mind. _Just get home, then some peace, quiet and scotch lots of scotch._ He thought, his migraine making him unable to distinguish any individual from the blob that surrounded him.

But, through the sea of camera flashes and microphones, a set of jade green eyes glaring above a pair of dark shades caught the irritated billionaire's eye and nearly stopped his heart. He knew those eyes. They had once bore menacingly into his, trying to rip him from his own control.

From all the demanding pushy shouts came a low menacing voice, almost a whisper, loud as if in his ear.

"The man of iron, we meet again." His thin lips smiled as he pushed up his glasses. The faux microphone, oddly pointed towards his chest rather than his face, gleamed gold and blue as it shimmered into the familiar dagger point of a scepter. The crowd of reporters gasped and screamed, the smart ones running, leaving only the desperate to record the unveiling of the shrouded villain.

His neat civilian attire disappeared to reveal the unforgettable leather and metal armor. Pushing his glasses up into his long inky hair they too shifted to that familiar - and as Tony remembered - rather ridiculous golden horned helmet. Before Tony could even gather his wits as to what was happening, Loki seized his throat with one hand, and a swarm of emerald light engulfed them. Struggling to breathe, Tony only caught on that they were teleporting when his ears popped and the glow cleared to eerie darkness.

Tony couldn't see a thing, the air was thin, and a cold gust of wind lashed at his face sending tendrils of Loki's hair in all directions making his presence all the more freighting. The sorcerer dangled him off the ground by his neck. _Well isn't this familiar?_ Fully aware that without his suit he was no match for the Demigod, Tony didn't struggle... much. Loki set him down with a thud onto the cold dirt and rock. Wait, dirt and rock? Where the hell were they? Whirling around frantically he realized they stood on a cliff in the middle of a forest, God knows where. He leaned against a large jutting rock, trying to catch his breath from the startling change in altitude and the stress of being a kidnapping victim.

"WHERE - HOW DID YO- WHAT DO Y-" he was hysterical, which Loki found rather amusing.

"Don't tell me you don't remember the night we met." He chuckled, admiring the blade of his scepter. Looking off the edge of the cliff Tony could make out a clearing in the dense woods, where several trees lied blasted down at the trunk, splintered chaotically in a large circle.

_ Oh._ Tony thought. The height alone reminding him of how utterly vulnerable he was.

"W-What do you want?" he stammered.

All amusement spent Loki replied, "As- embarrassing as it sounds, I am in need of your assistance Mr. Stark." He lowered his gaze to his feet.

"_You_ need _my_ help!?" Tony he shot back in disbelief. "You're an escaped convict from fucking outer space and you need _MY_ _HELP_?"

Loki looked up and raised a brow. _Did I stutter? _

"HOW DID YOU EVEN GET HERE?!" Tony was yelling now.

"That is not important."

"NOT IMPORT-"

"STARK!" He interjected, sick of being shouted at. He pinned Tony hard against the boulder lifting him to eye level, his facade of amusement completely vanished. "LISTEN YOU VAINGLORIOUS, NESCIENT OAF, ASGARD IS IN CRISIS, MY BROTHER'S LIFE IS AT RISK, AND I NEED YOUR HELP! WEATHER YOU COME YOURSELF OR I TAKE YOU!" his blade ripped through Tony's shirt, and scraped the arc reactor with a deafening screech, sending a spasm of pain through his rib cage.

"You can't control me remember?" It was a feeble response and he knew it.

"I wouldn't hesitate to rip this apparatus from your chest if it meant saving Asgard." His green eyes flickered with promise in the exposed light of the reactor.

"Funny, I didn't think you were much of the hero type." Loki's hold around his neck strengthened.

"I am still the right full king," Tony would have rolled his eyes were it not for choking death grip. "And I don't take kindly to some _barbarians_ seizing my throne." Loki spat, as if it were obvious.

There were _so_ many things wrong with that statement. Tony wasn't even going to bother arguing the shortsighted insanity. "Why do you need me?" He gasped, struggling to breathe under the demigod's grip.

Releasing his hold and setting him down smoothly, Loki's resentment turned to grief.

"It is my fault. I let him down and now he's come for me and the tessaract, no matter the cost."

"Who?"

"Thanos." Loki whispered his voice harsh and low as if it hurt to speak. "He gave me this scepter, and with it the ability to conquer. And I failed him." Tony mulled this over for a few moments. He thought Loki had done it on his own. Loki was deep in thought, inside a painful memory. He flinched a little before starting again. "He is strong, destroying everything in his path. And my kingdom is next." Tony was going to ignore the possessive tone. He was still unsure how to respond to such an outright confession. Was it a ruse? It sure as hell was a convincing one if that was the case.

"What makes you think I can help you?" Tony decided if he was going to unmask the truth, he had better play along. Not without being a hard-ass about it of course.

"You and that - _beast_ - are the only two beings I know that are clever enough to help me." _And, aren't quite strong enough to destroy me. _"And I didn't think it the wisest course of action to visit the man who got me well acquainted with your floor the last time we met."

Tony struggled not to let his snicker escape through pursed lips. _That was a great day._

"Well, why did you bring me here?" He questioned again, attempting poorly to hide the pleasure that he was the only person in the _galaxy_ who could help him... besides Banner, but Loki's hesitation there was understandable.

"I couldn't take the risk of you calling for backup now could I? And plus, my memories of this place are actually rather fond ones." He smiled down at shattered clearing of trees absently forgetting his urgency. The pieces slowly became whole in Tony's his mind.

"So you pick on the only Avenger who can't fight back?"

"I do not want a battle with you, any of you. I come requesting your aid."

"Requesting or demanding?"

"Take your pick." Loki offered, admiring the lethal blade in his hands once more. Tony had the smart-ass impulse to ask 'what if I say no?', but he really wasn't in the mood for any more death threats at the moment.

"What's in it for me?" He posed instead.

"If my plan works, you will be known as the man who single handedly captured the 'god of mischief' along with a few others... but only if you comply." If Tony wasn't already baffled by the notorious liesmith's true intentions, he was now.

"Fine." Tony replied, taking Loki by surprise.

"You will agree?" he asked.

"For Thor, not for you." Tony was still highly suspicious, he would really be doing some research when he got home, unless... "But you have to prove it too me." Was that really disbelief he saw on Loki's face? "The god of lies wants my help? Just right out of the blue, no apologies, not even a please, and I'm supposed to believe you? Uh-uh, I need some proof." Loki looked like he wanted to carve a second hole in Tony's chest.

"Alright." He answered bitterly.

"Alright?" _Wow, he must really be desperate. _

"On one condition, you do as I say. You stay silent unless I say so. If we get caught because of your idiocy, I will be sure they slaughter you first." Loki held out a long fingered hand.

_Shit. _What had Tony gotten himself into?


	2. Validation

**Chapter 2:**

**Validation**

Grasping his hand grudgingly, Tony once again felt the falling sensation gather in the pit of his stomach. Loki grimaced as he focused on their destination, using his other hand to grasp Tony's shoulder. The glow formed sluggishly, his eyes rolling back in one languid motion before the ground left their feet. As they sore through the light, Tony had the strangest sensation of being naked.

When the world reopened around them, it was still dark, but Tony felt slightly heavier, a weight pressing down on his shoulders. Reaching to his head, he could feel the rough (wool) of a hooded cloak. Looking up, he could see the sorcerer adorned in an identical floor length garment. Tony peered down the front of his cloak.

"Where the fuck are my clothes?" He was wearing some kind of black tunic underneath, his shoes replaced with soft supple boots that barely made a sound on the stone floor.

"Stay silent and follow my lead." Loki whispered, ignoring him and flipping up his hood. Although Tony would never admit it, he was frightened like almost-pissed-my-pants frightened. They walked through gilded corridors, stopping at every sound of trouble. Tony followed behind obediently. Peaking around the corner Loki gestured for him to come closer. Tony peered around his slight body. Several other dark cloaked figures with grayish skin and a multitude of fingers were whispering in some language Tony didn't understand.

"What are they saying?"

"_Hush!_" Loki muttered. They crept past the hooded figures into another corridor that resembled a darker, more ancient version of a prison. There was no light save from what dim candles could emit. Grasping his surroundings, Loki glided apace to the far end of the hall to the last cell. He knelt before it soundlessly.

"Thor," he breathed grasping the bars. Tony leered quietly behind him, too shocked by the sight of his friend, bound and humiliated in chains. Several slashes lashed across his bare chest, trickling thick streams of blood onto the cold floor.

"Brother?" Thor murmured half-conscious.

"Yes." Loki replied reaching his hand in quickly to silence him. "Shh." This was just getting weirder and weirder in Tony's eyes. Loki shifted to let him come closer. Looking up at him, he waved him over. The mask of his face felt uninviting, but Tony complied. Thor looked like hell.

"Damn." He winced as he got a better view of the bound demigod. Lacerations painted a grotesque pattern across his body, colored in by green and purple bruises. Tony felt like he was going to be sick.

"Tony Stark?" he croaked, surprised. "How-"

"Ask your brother." He pointed towards Loki, trying to hold down that night's dinner.

"Why did you bring him here?"

"He wouldn't believe me, apparently I'm untrustworthy." He gave Tony a look of mocking disdain.

"He wants me to help." He said to Thor, trying not to look at the wounds.

"You should not have come here." He turned his head to Loki. "Brother, you need not involve him." Tony couldn't help but notice that Loki filched at the word 'brother'. Like he would lash out were it not for the bars between them. He took a deep inward breath to compose himself.

"Thor, I can't save Asgard on my own." Ouch. Tony could almost feel Loki's humiliation as he forced the words, the truth, from his lips.

"Loki I-" Thor stopped, as there was a scuffle just outside the corridor. His brother's hand flew up to cover his mouth.

"SHH!" His eyes darted frantically to the exits. "We must leave." He directed to Tony before turning back to Thor and giving him a whisper of an impish smile. "Trust me," he mouthed. Instantaneously, he was at Tony's wrist, pulling him down the corridors away from the clamor of footsteps. But they only grew louder as they darted through hall after hall, spinning around corner after corner. Panting, the two desperately scavenged for a place to hide. If Loki needed to take five minutes to teleport them they'd need this privacy.

They hung a left down a particularly dark passageway before Tony smashed into something, hard. Trying to catch his breath having the wind blown out of him, a dull light similar to the one in the cellblock illuminated the figure. The something, or rather someone that they had crashed into did not seem fazed by the impact. Beneath a low-slung hood, a perverse, distorted face glowered back at them.

"Two little jail birds flown from the coop. "His voice was rough and threatening. Loki froze; his eyes widening as the sickly hand with one too many thumbs pulled back his hood. "Loki." The figure growled turning slightly to rip off Tony's furiously. "And his mortal pet I presume?"

Tony was about to argue his position as 'pet', but the look on his newly declared cohort's face advised him otherwise.

"We have been searching for you." He stated calmly, as if his capture was inevitable. Tony wasn't exactly sure what to do; he'd never actually seen Loki this way, so intimidated, so petrified. The cloaked figure reached his hand back up to caress his face. "I'm a man of my word. There is nowhere left to run little prince. You are mine now. "Loki's already wide eyes began to dilate. He grew pale as his muscles stiffened and his veins became more pronounced. A slight whimper choked from his throat as the creature lifted ever so slightly into the air, his feet dangling above the floor. He didn't seem to be able to fight him off, even though he was barely touching him. His body paralyzed either with fear or by whatever magic this monster was using on him. The creature didn't even bother to acknowledge his 'pet', too wrapped up in pleasure of his torture.

Loki's face turned a terrifying shade of purple before Tony's brain jumped into gear. He leaped onto the monster's arm breaking his hold on Loki who crumpled down pathetically to the floor. Before Tony could gather his wits as to what to do next, he was backhanded into the wall, crumbling the stone as he collided with it. He would be feeling that in the morning.

The cloaked figure spun around to pick the feeble god back up for round two of creepy psychic voodoo torture. Loki flung a bony elbow at his face as hard as he could with his diluted strength, which apparently was still pretty hearty. It hit the figure hard enough to throw back his own hood, revealing ghastly scared and twisted features, tinged with a blue-grey pallor, now dripping with thick black blood.

"Come on." Loki was able wheeze as he hauled Tony, broken and shaky through the corridors again.

"Guards, GUARDS!" The unnerving voice called, only fueling their panicked urgency to escape. Finally, after what to Tony felt like an eternity they stopped. The hall around them was shorter than the previous passages. They both would have been crouching if they hadn't doubled over in pain.

"Who was that?" Tony gasped, trying to count the number of broken ribs he now had jabbing around his chest.

"Later," Loki replied. He grabbed his shoulder again and looked as if he might just vomit. The telltale green glow began to form weakly around them. It seemed to take a shorter time for the falling sensation to fill Tony's stomach, but that could have just been from the blood loss and severe need to just black out.

_Wow,_ he thought. _All this from one hit? Note to self, keep portable suit on hand at all times.__  
_  
Before he knew it, they were in the living area at stark towers, dripping blood on to his newly refurbished floor.

"Was that enough reason for you Stark?" Loki chuckled painfully from the adrenaline. Glancing over at Tony's shell shocked expression he smiled through the discomfort. "I thought so."


	3. Theories

Chapter 3

"Tony you have to talk to me." Pepper was getting annoyed now. It'd been three days since the incident that amazed the public. Tony had refused to tell S.H.E.I.L.D. anymore than the kidnapping and the fact that he'd gotten the shit beaten out of him. He'd admit that it would probably be a good idea to inform them of the thunder god's current predicament, but Loki had advised him otherwise.

_"The last thing we need is that wretched agency worrying over something they have no hope of controlling." _Was what he'd said. Tony tried to argue that if Loki agreed to help them, S.H.E.I.L.D. could be useful. But of course, he labeled those imbeciles as burdens and stated again that they were not 'part of the plan' as it were. _Asshole._

"God damn it Tony!" Pepper yelled, her livid voice bringing him back to the present with his work splayed out in front of him; thankfully, it was total gibberish to her who leaned over the table crossly.

"Pep, I've told you everything you need to know." He replied before she could start raving again.

"See, there it is_ 'what you need to know'_. What I need to know is what you're keeping from me!" She could tell he was skirting around his way around not telling a lie, she'd caught him doing the exact same thing a few months ago. Let's just say it didn't end to well for either of them.

"Maybe I'm just trying to keep you safe. Have you thought about that?" He snapped back. He didn't want to argue, but he couldn't stand her badgering him anymore. He closed all his files and stormed to his bedroom where he could get some peace, and maybe some progress on the impossible task Loki had given him. He slammed the door behind him. After a few minutes, Jarvis came on the intercom.

"Sir,"

"Yea, Jarvis?"

"Ms. Potts has left the premises sir, rather angrily"

"Thank you Jarvis." Tony sighed reopening the files at his desk. The data off Loki's staff organized itself before him. Tony rubbed his face and let free a tired breath. "Ugh... I'm in way over my head." Loki's request was looking less feasible by the second.

A few moments of sulking later a slight creak of the door behind him sent tingles up his spine.

"Sir-"

"I know, Jarvis." He said before turning around, unsurprised to see Loki in the doorway looking quite relaxed. His usual attire was gone, replaced by a simple black Henley shirt and comfortable trousers. His lack of shoes told Tony he'd already made himself at home.

"Good evening Stark." He said leaning on the doorframe unceremoniously. "How's the work coming?"

Tony rolled his eyes and sighed. "Slow. Slower than we need it to." Loki examined him from head to toe.

"Mortals, you all grow exhausted so expeditiously." He was enjoying his superiority.

"Sorry we can't all be demigods with insomnia." Tony replied, glancing over to his notes with tired eyes.

"We sleep, just not as often." He got quiet for a moment before saying, "You know I never did get that drink." Tony looked over to see him smiling a tired smile of someone long overdue for a rest himself. His cheeks seemed sallower, the hollows of his eyes boring deeper into their sockets.

"I'm still not sure that you deserve it." Tony chuckled shutting down his workstation before brushing past him in the doorframe.

"What'll you have?" he asked.

"Whatever you're having I suppose." Loki replied, leisurely taking a seat in the middle of the long couch. He assessed the room rather than look out the grand wall of windows Tony thankfully tinted during the night. Having drinks with the man who had just kidnapped him probably wouldn't go over too well with the press. Tony brought over two glasses of scotch, feeling uneasy about his predicament as he did so. This was odd, even for him. However, having drinks with a man whom conspired to kill him wasn't really a first.

"So what's your deal?" He asked.

"My what?" He still hadn't gotten the hang of present terminology yet.

"You know, your deal, your M.O." the way his cocked his head to the side almost reminded Tony of a puppy if it weren't for the fact that he was more like a ravenous wolf than a fluffy Labradoodle. "Come on, you come after the earth like a raving lunatic, escape from prison in a desperate attempt to save your world and your brother, who by the way you tried to kill, dragged me into all of this, and you just sit here so calmly like everything is right in the world." He took long a swig of his drink. "I don't get it."

"I'm tired, Stark." Loki replied, unmoved by Tony's rant. "The answer is in the question. I haven't stopped fighting, not since the day I decided to destroy Jotunheim. I'm just...tired." He eyed his drink, sniffed it, and then downed it in one gulp. He didn't seem fazed by it at all. Tony had never thought of it that way. He never assumed that Demigods got tired enough to quit with their whole 'fight to the death' thing.

"What readings have you gotten off of my spear?" He inquired, trying to change the subject.

"Uh, complicated ones, magic isn't really my forte." He replied, glad that Loki wasn't ripping his throat out for what he said.

"Do you think you could perhaps able to amplify it? Send it to other weapons?"

"Possibly. It would take some time."

"How about eradicating it?" Loki offered after a minute of pondering.

"What?"

"Would you be able to disengage it from the object?" He rephrased.

"I don't know. Why-?"

"Stark," He interrupted. "Their weapons are like brothers to mine, powered by the same source, the tesseract. If we were able to disarm the weapons from it we might stand a better chance with Thanos' army." He stated, gears turning in his head, revising the plan.

"So, anti-magic? That's what you're going for here?"

"In a sense."

He had to admit, fighting non-magical beings would be a good change in pace for once.

Over the next few hours, the two went through 3 bottles of scotch and 2 bottles of red wine Loki had conjured out of what Tony could only recognize as homesickness (and to be fair, tony only had half a glass). Asgardian alcohol was a hell of a lot stronger than what Tony would casually serve up, but Loki drank away as if it was nothing. Thor told him once that they pretty much drank wine and mead with every meal. Water, he'd told Tony, was for the animals.

They drank in Tony's workshop, mulling over data, and discussing possible theories. As strange as it sounded, he was actually enjoying his company.

"So what makes you wanna help Asgard anyways? I was under the impression that you hated it there." Tony posed.

"It's still my home, I'm still the rightful king." Feeling too good from the buzz, he let Loki slide by on his high horse. "What about you? Why are _you_," he jabbed a finger at Tony's chest hitting the arc reactor. "Helping _me_?"

Tony raised his brow. "Thor is my friend, sure we had a rough start, but he's part of the team. And plus, I didn't want to die."

"Why would you die?"

Tony chuckled. "Are you even aware of what kind of reputation you hold? What happened in New York gave me nightmares."

"I wouldn't kill you." Loki smiled. "You're too valuable of a pawn."

"Thanks, I guess." He looked up at Loki who swallowed down the last of his wine. That's when he noticed how unusually close they were standing to each other, the pale column of his throat nearly right in his face. It also didn't help that he was eyelevel with Loki's chin. He smelled like the wine, but there was a hint of something else, it reminded him of the tinge of power when the tesseract had surged to teleport him and Thor to Asgard. Loki was looking down at him now, tired eyes perusing over his face.

Catching himself before he could do anything, too stupid Tony said, "I should probably go to bed now. I'm afraid I've reached my fifty-four hour limit." Loki just smiled and nodded. Tony turned to leave but Loki grabbed his shoulder gently.

"Stark." He turned him around slowly his face terribly close. He let out a sigh before leaning in to brush his lips to Tony's. After a moment, he pulled back. "Thank you." he said, his gaze to the floor, unsure how the advancement would be received. Naturally, Tony's drunken mind kicked in and he reached up to return the kiss. It was rougher and needier than what Loki expected, but he complied back, reciprocating the intensity. Only when he felt the cold chill of those long fingered hands that Tony broke away.

_Shit._ That was pretty much the only thing close to a sentence his mind could process. He stepped back carefully before hastily making his way out of the room. He heard the rustle of paper as Loki teleported out. _What the fuck was that? _His head reeled as he made his way to his room. _"Damn it!" _He whispered to himself. _"What the hell is wrong with me?" _Sure, he'd been lonely since he stopped dating Pepper. But _Loki? _Drunk or not that was a seriously bad idea. For the first time in a while, Tony decided it was probably time to get some sleep.

Over the next few days, he made considerable progress with what information Loki was able to translate for him. Creating a secure apparatus to transport the tesseract would be the easy part. Constructing a mechanism to cancel out its signal was another thing entirely, especially when Loki was wary about performing tests on the only tesseract weapon in their possession. But, he couldn't blame him. It'd be like asking him to give up his suits and fight an army of drones. He was good in a fight, but he wasn't suicidal robotic drone good. That's when he remembered; Loki wasn't the only one on earth with access to the tesseract weapons. He couldn't believe he let phase two slip his mind. Thank God for S.H.E.I.L.D. and their power hungry coordinators. He knew how to get his hands on them, but he'd need a little help from a few choice avengers.


End file.
